https://www.straitstimes.

com/world/youtube-takes-down-xinjiang-videos-forces-rights-group-to-
seek-alternative

Human Rights/Free Speech

- Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights' channel, which published nearly 11,000 videos on
YouTube totaling over 120 million views since 2017, was blocked on June 15 after 12 of
its videos had been reported for violating its "cyber bullying and harassment" policy.
- Mr Bilash, who was arrested multiple times in Kazakhstan for his work and threatened
with seven years in jail if he did not stop his activism, said Atajurt equipment, including
hard disks and mobile phones, had been confiscated multiple times by the authorities -
making YouTube the only place where its entire video collection was stored
- UN experts and rights groups believe that over a million people, mainly Uighurs and
other Muslim minorities, have been detained in recent years in a vast system of camps
in Xinjiang.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/crushing-climate-impacts-to-hit-sooner-than-feared-draft-un-
report
Climate Change
- In 2015 came the Paris Climate Agreement in which nearly 200 nations vowed to
collectively cap warming at "well below" 2 deg C - and 1.5 deg C if possible. On current
trends, we are heading for 3 deg C at best
- Tens of millions more people are likely to face chronic hunger by 2050, and 130 million
more could experience extreme poverty within a decade if inequality is allowed to
deepen.
- In 2050, coastal cities on the "frontline" of the climate crisis will see hundreds of millions
of people at risk from floods and increasingly frequent storm surges made more deadly
by rising seas.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/belarus-moves-jailed-opposition-blogger-
protasevich-to-house-arrest-says-bbc

Freedom of Speech

- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who faced months of anti-government

protests last year following his re-election in a vote his critics said was rigged, said the
interception was justified to prevent a rebellion in Belarus

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/belarus-forces-vilnius-bound-ryanair-plane-to-land-
to-detain-blogger

Freedom of Speech

- His social media feed from exile has been one of the last remaining independent outlets
for news about Belarus since a mass crackdown on dissent last year. Ms Sophia
Sapega, a 23-year-old student travelling with him, was also detained
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/uk-regulator-opens-formal-probe-into-amazon-
google-over-fake-reviews

Fake News

- Competition and Markets Authority started its investigation into reviews in May 2020,
focusing on the internal systems and processes of several platforms (Google, Amazon)
for identifying and dealing with fake reviews
- “worry is that millions of online shoppers could be misled by reading fake reviews and
then spending their money based on those recommendations”

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/george-floyd-statue-in-brooklyn-defaced-with-
hate-groups-symbol

Racism

- defacing of the statue, which was unveiled on Flatbush Avenue last Saturday to
commemorate the Juneteenth holiday
- epitome of not only anti-blackness and racism, but it is also about the lack of even basic
human decency about the life of George Floyd,
- Earlier this month, a mural of Mr Floyd in Philadelphia was defaced in a similar fashion,
and tagged with the Patriot Front logo

https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/tennis-zhang-zhizhen-becomes-first-chinese-man-to-
play-at-wimbledon

Sports/Representation

- first Chinese man in the Open era to play in the Grand Slam tournament
- “My full name is too hard for people to say, so I just tell them to say whatever they want
to call me and I will respond”

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/in-supporting-naomi-osaka-president-halimah-
highlights-the-importance-of-mental-health

Mental Health/ Sports

- refused to carry out a mandatory news conference following her first-round win. She
later withdrew from the tournament.
- Ms Osaka had likened post-match media inquests to "kicking people when they are
down", which had a detrimental effect on her mental health"

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/canada-makes-another-horrific-discovery-of-hundreds-of-
indigenous-childrens-remains
Humanity

- The remains of 751 people, mainly Indigenous children, the largest one to date, came
weeks after the remains of 215 children were found in unmarked graves on the grounds
of another former boarding school in British Columbia.
- died at the church-run schools, which were buffeted by disease outbreaks a century ago,
and where children faced sexual, physical and emotional abuse and violence
- federal government announced that it would provide just under 4.9 million Canadian
dollars (S$5.3 million) to Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan to search for graves.
The provincial government previously committed 2 million Canadian dollars

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/uk-to-ban-daytime-junk-food-adverts-on-tv-and-
online

Food/Health/Advertising

- designed to change the current trend where one in three children leaves primary school
overweight or obese, but they prompted an angry reaction from some media groups
- "The content youngsters see can have an impact on the choices they make and habits
they form," Public Health Minister Jo Churchill said on Thursday
- Analysis cited by the government showed that almost half of all TV food adverts shown
in a month in 2019 were for unhealthy food.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/britain-setting-up-new-health-office-with-
singapores-health-promotion-board-as

Singapore Promotion?

- "This office and approach will be modelled on successful methods to this agenda
internationally, such as in Singapore, which has a Health Promotion Board, and has
pioneered new digital public health schemes, such as their 'National Steps Challenge'."
- HPB's steps challenge has grown in popularity since its launch in 2015, climbing from an
initial 156,000 sign-ups in the first year to more than 900,000 for the 2019/2020
challenge.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/seeking-sweet-spot-in-cutting-sugar-intake

Food/Health

- Singaporeans' sugar intake increased from 59g a day in 2010 to 60g in 2020
- MOH has been stepping up its War on Diabetes, a campaign that was launched in 2016
to tackle the disease. Two years ago, seven major soft drink manufacturers pledged to
reduce sugar content in all their drinks here to 12 per cent and below by 2020.
https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/traumatised-britney-spears-urges-judge-to-end-
guardianship

Freedom/Family/Internet/Fame

- “I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. I want changes, I deserve changes,”

Spears pleaded to Judge Brenda Penny.
- Confidential records published on Tuesday by The New York Times say Spears told a
court investigator that the conservatorship had “become an oppressive and controlling
tool against her” as far back as 2016.
- she was “sick of being taken advantage of.” Spears’ revelation that the conservatorship
is preventing her from removing a contraceptive IUD
- “We stand in solidarity with Britney and all women who face reproductive coercion. Your
reproductive health is your own – and no one should make decisions about it for you.
#FreeBritney,” Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill Johnson tweeted
Wednesday.
- She said her father and associates regularly threatened her.
- “If I don’t do this, what they tell me to do, enslave me to do, they’re gonna punish me,”
she said.
- "After what we saw today, we should all be supporting Britney at this time," Timberlake
wrote on Twitter. "Regardless of our past, good and bad, and no matter how long ago it
was… what's happening to her is just not right."

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/race-racism-singapore-lawrence-wong-ips-
forum-15090292?cid=facebook_comment_video_11052018_cna&fbclid=IwAR2Mut-
IoSkPs_psZIstWnijNgDb6Dfv_kIE521V1_NeQ1vzZW7t9RLqagU

Equality/Minority

- Mr Wong also addressed the concept of "Chinese privilege" and said that there may be
"biases or blind spots that the Chinese community should become aware of and to
rectify".
- At the same time, the Chinese community in Singapore is "not monolithic", he noted.
- In May, a Chinese man allegedly kicked an Indian woman in the chest while uttering
racial slurs. This month, a Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecturer, a Chinese man, confronted an
inter-racial couple in a video that went viral. A Chinese woman was also filmed hitting a
gong to disrupt her Indian neighbour’s prayer ritual.
- On Jun 23, a Malay woman was sentenced to four weeks' jail for making racist insults at
an Indian female commuter on a bus.
- "Such incidents don’t always make the headlines. But racism still exists in Singapore; it
is among us – in our streets, our neighbourhoods and our workplaces," - Mr Lawrence
Wong
 - he warned against insisting on "maximum entitlements and rights" for one's own group
or to "construe every compromise as an injustice that needs to be condemned", or "put
the worst interpretation on every perceived slight or insensitivity".
- Raising the example of the Government's current review of Muslim nurses wearing the
tudung with their uniform, he said: "Our policies are not cast in stone."
- Society's attitudes and conditions have changed, said Mr Wong. There is greater mixing
and interaction between races, younger Singaporeans have grown up less conscious of
racial differences, and more than one in five marriages in Singapore are inter-racial.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/in-focus-breastfeeding-struggles-social-
media-advice-15083768

Social Media

- joining a social media group for breastfeeding support. She did not consider seeking
professional help because she was afraid to see another lactation consultant for fear of
reprimand
- Turning to social media for answers to these questions and hoping to learn from the
experience of other new mums didn't help. "When reading all those posts on one
breastfeeding group, I got very demoralised. It’s like why can’t I, why they can?" she
said.
- Ms Nuraizani created a facebook page, intending to create a non-judgmental place
where mothers can discuss their issues with breastfeeding and discuss all options
- Ms Ashwinni Manasseh from Alliance Counselling, who sees new and expecting
parents, said that some mothers may experience shame when they compare themselves
to other mums on social media, “It can lead to depression because they're feeling a lot of
shame and guilt and regret.”
- Individuals get many opinions which are not from professionals when they seek help on
social media platforms

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/firms-in-spore-turn-to-tech-online-space-to-
weather-pandemic-storm

Economy

- There were 43,335 business closures registered last year, with a further 20,110 closing
from January to May this year, an increase from the 18,786 in the same period last year.
- “There are also others that support those sectors, such as laundry firms that support
hotels and salons that rely on the travel industry. There are lots of ramifications on
second-tier businesses in periphery industries,”
- Others see a space for new online businesses. For instance, two Singapore
Management University graduates started Edens Chips, which offers mushroom chips in
different flavours, last August.
 - They invested $50,000 and were able to hire a small team after getting a government
salary support grant. They sold 10,000 packets of chips online in four months.

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/newly-minted-spore-entrepreneurs-
ex-model-finds-winning-formula-in

Environment/sustainability

- Ms Lim said the push for sustainable beauty products could not have come at a better
time, with the pandemic raising more awareness on climate change and accelerating
consumer demand for eco-friendly products.
- during the pandemic, crops were destroyed as supply chains were disrupted and many
processing plants were shut due to the outbreak.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/shell-and-jtc-plan-solar-farm-the-size-of-112-football-
fields-on-semakau-island

Environment

- Shell and JTC plan solar farm the size of 112 football fields on Semakau Island
- Singapore's solar projects are smaller ones on rooftops - at more than 5,000 HDB blocks
- solar photovoltaic (PV) systems made up only 0.56 per cent of the total electricity
generated nationwide. The Government wants solar energy capacity to reach 2 per cent
by 2025

https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/why-you-should-start-hiding-likes-on-facebook-and-
instagram

Social Media

- 12 years after they invented the button, they were going to try and take away some of its
power by hiding the "like counts"
- never meant to be the Pandora's box of the Internet. It started just as a way to clean up
comments on Facebook and to, in the words of one of the people involved in its creation,
"increase the likelihood that Facebook is contributing to creating a world in which people
uplift each other rather than tear each other down".
- good way to increase engagement. People who found typing a comment too difficult
could now engage with posts with nothing more than a single click.
- good source of data for predictive algorithms. Depending on the kind of posts someone
"liked", Facebook could better predict the kinds of things it should show them more of.
And it wasn't just on a personal level. The data on likes also affected the algorithms'
decisions on what to show everyone.
- essayist David Foster Wallace once wrote about TV: "I'm not saying that television is
vulgar and dumb because the people who compose the audience are vulgar and dumb.
 Television is the way it is simply because people tend to be extremely similar in their
vulgar and prurient and dumb interests and wildly different in their refined and aesthetic
and noble interests."
- Lives presented on Facebook and Instagram are nearly always intense. Taken at face
value, and many people live lives shuttling between grave social injustices and
amazingly photogenic experiences, between outstanding career achievements and
incredible acts of kindness. There is nothing in between. It is intense and at the same
time profoundly boring. The performance of a good life that needs to appeal to as many
people as possible tends to all look the same.
- It's not hard to see why constantly scrolling through these leads to mental strife. It can be
tough leading the world's most boring life.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jobs/hybrid-model-workplace-redesign

Workplace

- Microsoft’s Work Trend Index also found that employees’ work-from-home (WFH)
experience has changed their expectations of their workplace. The report noted that
greater flexibility and understanding of employees’ needs will be key to success in a
hybrid work future; Singaporean business leaders will need to focus on transforming
employee experiences and their workspaces with technology in order to attract and
retain talent.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/trudeau-rips-into-china-after-tit-for-tat-diplomacy-at-
un

Diplomacy/International Relations

- 2018 arrest of a Chinese telecommunications executive on a US extradition request and

the subsequent detention of two Canadians by authorities in Beijing. This year, Canada's
legislature passed a motion designating the treatment of the Uighurs as "genocide".
- Canada Indigenous/China Uighur diplomacy against each other

https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/mie-prefecture-leads-japan-in-push-for-diversity-barrier-
free-access

Diversity/Education/Future

- Fukuta’s works (Fukuta has a learning disability) has become featured in a Japanese
television drama and at the Fuji Rock music festival, and have been reprinted on T-shirts
in a collaboration with Uniqlo
- Garden Of Hope director Shinya Murabayashi said: "We want to support the
development and enrichment of individuality, through art, culture and social activities."
 - Mie was in the news in March when it became the first - and only - prefecture in Japan to
enact an ordinance to ban the non-consensual outing of LGBTs (lesbians, gays,
bisexuals and transgenders). It also plans to recognise same-sex partners from
September.
- Ms Ayumi Noguchi founded the non-profit Iseshima Barrier-Free Tour Centre in 2002,
struck by how people with disabilities had found the information she put out as a travel
writer "useless".

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/one-step-forward-two-steps-back-for-gender-
equality

Gender Equality

- Ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker Mio Sugita, 53, who still has her job,
unlike the aforementioned men, was voted to have made the most offensive comment
when she said last year that "women can lie as much as they want" about sexual
violence.
- Mr Yoshiro Mori, 83, who stoked global fury with his comment: "Women are competitive.
When one person raises a hand, others think they need to speak up as well. That's why
everyone speaks."
- Not surprisingly, the latest World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap index last month
placed Japan 120th out of 156 nations, while neighbours South Korea (102nd) and
China (107th) both fared better. Singapore ranked 54th.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/singapore-must-prepare-for-rising-waters-
due-to-heavy-rain-climbing-sea-levels

Climate change in singapore

- Professor at NTU mentioned that mangroves are threatened due to rising sea levels and
development of land areas behind trapping these species
- National Sea Level Programme by the NEA
- researchers in Singapore are part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -
the United Nations' climate science panel.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/chan-chun-sing-moe-diversity-schools-education-
2115116

Education in Singapore
 - Chan Chun Sing claimed that MOE is growing to strengthen STEM curriculum in
education system to equip students with hard skills and interest to join the technology
industry in Singapore
- Nurture “soft skills” such as curiosity and confidence, “enduring” attributes
- MOE concedes that educators are stretched over “many fronts” and creating “white
space” for educators to grow their skillsets are important
- Education must remain a “key enabler” to counter the social and economic divide that
happens if “forces of inequality” are left unchecked, said Mr Chan.
- The Education Ministry will also continue extending its focus upstream to early childhood
education, said Mr Chan. By 2025, eight in 10 children will have a place in a
Government-supported pre-school
- Parents now pay between 40 to 90 percent less than they did in 2019 for full-day
childcare in anchor operator pre-schools - development in education opportunities for all,
equalizing opportunities. However, higher quality childcare still enables different starting
positions, but this is inevitable

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-tuition-centre-teachers-parents-
students-education-2114136

Education (Tuition Singapore)

- Tuition industry in singapore worth S$1.4 billion, according to the last Household
Expenditure Survey in 2017 and 2018
- 2019, Mr Ong reiterated in Parliament that the Government needs the support of parents
to shift the culture from turning to tuition as the default option
- Based on MOE’s website, there are more than 800 registered tuition and enrichment
centres, up from about 600 five years ago
- MOE had introduced several policy changes under its “Learn for Life” movement in a bid
to strike a balance. They included expanding the number of DSA places in schools,
reducing school-based assessments, changes to the PSLE scoring system this year,
and the rollout of full subject-based banding in all secondary schools by 2024
- NIE associate professor claimed that even though the tuition industry is such a big part
of Singapore’s education landscape, its status as a major stakeholder is not openly
acknowledged

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/taliban-advances-china-lays-groundwork-accept-
awkward-reality-2112451

China-Taliban/ global conflicts/politics

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/haiti-quake-revives-anger-over-aid-response-past-
disasters-2117016

Politics/Governance - aid provided to countries in need

- Haiti related social media posts criticised what they saw as misuse of funds after the
2010 quake and a major hurricane in 2016, encouraging donations via haitian charities
or the government
- The earthquake prompted pledges of support from UN bodies, the US Agency for
International Development (USAID), the Red Cross and governments around the world
- in 2020 alone, USAID had supported the vaccination of more than 75,000 children there
and provided care to tens of thousands of women and newborn babies - international aid
is improving (developed countries looking out for their weaker counterparts)

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/ipcc-2021-report-climate-change-impact-
singapore-2100661

Climate Change

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/afghanistan-taliban-terrorist-organisation-social-media-
facebook-twitter-youtube-2117386

Social media (Taliban)

- Facebook confirmed on Monday (Aug 16) that it designates the Taliban a terrorist group
and bans it and content supporting it from its platforms, and yet the Taliban uses
WhatsApp for communication
- Social media platforms often depend on state designations or official international
recognitions to determine who is allowed on their sites, such as the US terrorist
organisation list, which Taliban is not a part of
- Taliban is cementing their power and social media platforms limiting their interactions
with a possible future power might pose complications, according to Mr Siyech, a
researcher at University of Edinburgh

https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/digitalisation-is-growing-so-is-its-carbon-footprint

Technology affecting Climate Change

- Global spending on digital transformation could top US$2.4 trillion (S$3.3 trillion) by
2024, more than double that in 2019 before the pandemic
 - Focus must be to make sure digital services are "green by design" while they are being
created. The foundation is supported by many leading Institutions, including the
European Union and the World Economic Forum
- European Commission's EU Green Deal and sustainable finance. The aim is to
incentivise the digital industry to reach its sustainability targets by accelerating its
existing efforts and offer businesses a competitive advantage while investing in eco-
friendly and innovative digital services.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapores-first-large-scale-solar-floating-farm-opens-
at-tengeh-reservoir

Clean Energy singapore (climate change)

- Singapore is moving towards clean energy with this development of large scale solar
farms on water bodies - potential for future growth/self-sustaining energy

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/how-will-the-talebans-comeback-in-afghanistan-affect-
singapore-and-the-region

Taliban affecting Asia/Singapore

Internal Security Department (ISD) and security experts told The Straits Times the Taleban's
advances across Afghanistan could result in increased terror-related activities in South-east
Asia, including driving up recruitment by radical groups and emboldening them to launch attacks

11 Singapore JI detainees were known to have attended military training in AQ camps in

Afghanistan, and several were involved in terror plots targeting Singapore, said ISD

threat level to Singapore remains low, given the Taleban's focus on re-establishing total control
of Afghanistan and strengthening its sphere of influence in Central Asia

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/terror-threat-to-spore-remains-high-self-radicalised-
individuals-the-primary-domestic

- 2015, 54 people have been dealt with under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for terrorism-
related conduct. Among them, 44 - comprising 32 Singaporeans and 12 foreigners -
were self-radicalised
- anti-terrorism movement SGSecure, which was launched in 2016, has helped to
sensitise, train and mobilise the community in the fight against terror
- "Public vigilance remains key to the detection of self-radicalised individuals. Such
attacks are hard to prevent and can happen quickly without much warning," said the ISD

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/us-joe-biden-troops-withdraw-afghanistan-
taliban-2115916
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/singapore-mental-health-platform-
mindfi-raises-1-million-from-investors

- MindFi, a corporate mental health and wellness platform, has secured US$750,000
(S$1.02 million) from investors
- consumer-focused app in 2017 by its founder and chief executive Bjorn Lee, who was
formerly head of product innovation at Zopim.
- start-up now has more than 30 enterprise clients across Asia. This comes as employees
report higher levels of anxiety during the pandemic.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/frances-macron-asks-chinas-xi-jinping-for-climate-
signal-ahead-of-cop26-summit

- French President Emmanuel Macron asked China's President Xi Jinping to send the
world a "decisive signal" on climate change ahead of the COP26 summit
- pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2060 and stop increasing its emissions before
2030

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/new-digital-twin-national-power-grid-manage-
electricity-supply-2271356

- Singapore is developing a “digital twin”, or a computer replica, of its power grid assets
and network
- improve the reliability of its electricity supply and support the deployment of cleaner
energy sources
- completed by 2023 and the digital solution will be progressively deployed
- help to facilitate the planning of infrastructure for different needs
- with increasing electrification and Singapore looking to deploy more distributed energy
resources, the country’s power grid operations are expected to become more complex
- Singapore is planning to quadruple its solar capacity to 1.5 gigawatt-peak (GWp) by
2025, 4% of current demand

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/un-warns-world-set-27c-rise-todays-emissions-
pledges-2270266

- COP26 conference between countries to meet deadline of committing to more ambitious

cut pledges
- UN report in August warned that global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions could
breach 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next two decades
- most important round of UN talks since the Paris Agreement in 2015 will secure the
agreements needed to tackle climate change
 - G20 countries, which represent 80 per cent of global emissions, are not on track to
achieve their original or new 2030 pledges
- China and India, which are together responsible for around 30 per cent of global
emissions, have not yet made enhanced pledges (a severe lack of international
cooperation)

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/facebook-propaganda-tool-vietnam-government-say-
activists-2269626

- Social media has become propaganda sites for governments

- CEO Mark Zuckerberg had personally signed off on a push from Hanoi to limit "anti-
state" posts
- Facebook has been a popular forum for activists in the communist nation, where all
independent media is banned, but officials have begun to come under fire for targeting
critics on the platform
- Facebook already said last year that it was blocking content deemed illegal by
authorities
- made the decision to agree to Hanoi's demands, rather than risk getting knocked offline
in one of its most important Asian markets
- More than 53 million people use Facebook in Vietnam, accounting for more than half the
country's population
- prominent musician and activist told news agencies that citizens are "disappointed to
see Facebook choose profit" over values associated with the United States, "a country
that chose democracy and freedom"

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/facebook-failing-contain-hate-speech-india-reports-
2265626

- vast majority of the company's budget dedicated to the fight against misinformation is
intended for the United States - even though users there represent less than 10 percent
of Facebook's users worldwide
- Facebook moderators have been "expanding" its operations into new languages. It has
"hate speech classifiers" working in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Urdu

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-us-president-donald-trump-launches-new-social-
media-platform-2021-10-21/

- Former U.S. President Donald Trump will launch his own social media app, TRUTH
Social, that he said would "stand up to Big Tech" companies such as Twitter and
Facebook that have barred him from their platforms.
- company envisions eventually competing against Amazon.com's AWS cloud service and
Google Cloud.
- Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms banned Trump from their services
after hundreds of his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/pandemic-stimulus-has-backfired-in-emerging-markets

- Hungary, Brazil and the Philippines have spent about 16% of their GDP in efforts to
recover from the pandemic, but recovery levels did not match countries who spent far
less.
- Research by Goldman Sachs found a tight link between growth and both lockdowns and
vaccines: the stricter the lockdown and the slower the vaccine roll-out, the bigger the hit
to growth

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/yes-there-has-been-progress-on-climate-no-its-not-nearly-
enough

- This year alone, blistering heat waves killed hundreds of people in the Pacific North-
west, floods devastated Germany and China, and wildfires raged out of control in
Siberia, Turkey and California
- Before the Glasgow summit, at least 140 countries have formally updated their plans to
curb emissions through 2030, according to the World Resources Institute

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/south-koreas-toxic-cancel-culture-needs-to-change-
experts

- Mr Heo Young-hoon, culture director of news portal PS News: Kim's private life "became
a social problem overnight" due to widespread media propagation, leading many
netizens to "attack and criticise (him) indiscriminately" before the truth was revealed.
- "If the celebrity I like seriously disappointed me at some point, I can 'cancel' my support
for him - that is the obvious right of a follower," he wrote in a column. "But no one has
the right to stand above the law and condemn him."
- many South Korean celebrities have been condemned due to controversy over their
personal life
- better protection of the privacy of South Korean celebrities
- “But surveillance capitalism is increasingly hegemonic, and governments, right or left,
seem blissfully insouciant about this and other related problems of the digital society," he
added.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/singapore-energy-electricity-trade-renewable-
solar-malaysia-indonesia-australia-net-zero-2274791

- Around 95 per cent of Singapore’s electricity supply is dependent on imports of natural

gas.
- initiatives by Sembcorp and Sunseap to respectively develop a 1GWp (Gigawatt peak)
solar and energy storage project in Indonesia’s Batam-Bintan-Karimun region and a
combined 7GWp development in the wider Riau islands, some of which will be exported
to Singapore
 - Through the A$30 billion (S$30.15 billion) Australia-Asia Power Link (AAPL), Australian
company Sun Cable aims to dispatch solar energy 10-15% of Singapore’s total usage
from a solar farm to Singapore - planned to be started by 2028
- Indonesia in February 2020 announced it will end natural gas exports to Singapore to
concentrate on domestic use after the existing contract expires in 2023.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/afghan-minister-wants-good-relations-needs-more-
time-on-girls-education

- Afghanistan's foreign minister appealed to the world for good relations

- avoided making firm commitments on girls' education
- new Taliban administration has pushed to build relations with other countries to help
stave off a catastrophic economic crisis
- Taliban have so far refused to give ground on allowing girls to return to high school
- key demands of the international community after a decision last month that schools
above the sixth grade would only reopen for boys

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/268-million-collected-in-fines-for-pdpa-breaches-to-date

- Singapore's privacy watchdog has collected more than $2.68 million in fines from
breaches in PDPA over the past six years since 2016
- number of entities found in breach of the PDPA, and the amount of fines issued to them,
appear to have fallen since they peaked in 2019
- 14.2 per cent of the incidents from April 2016 to October this year involved breaches of
the openness or accountability obligation (Lack of measures to protect privacy)
- SingHealth and the Integrated Health Information Systems - the IT provider for
Singapore's public healthcare sector - were fined a combined $1 million
- The apparent fall in PDPA violations could be due to "distortions" caused by the Covid-
19 pandemic and not a genuine decrease in incidents (Individual privacy is less
important than national crises?)

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/information-combat-junta-defectors-reveal-online-
fight-for-myanmars-soul

- As Myanmar's military seeks to put down protest on the streets, a parallel battle is
playing out on social media, with the junta using fake accounts to denounce opponents
and press its message that it seized power to save the nation from election fraud
- The (Myanmar) military has tasked thousands of soldiers with conducting what is widely
referred to in the military as "information combat"
- Aim of the movement is to spread the junta's view among the population, as well as to
monitor dissenters and attack them online as traitors, the people told Reuters
 - In September, a junta spokesman on army-owned Myawaddy TV accused media groups
and opposition activists of spreading "fake news" about the situation in Myanmar
- Reuters review of thousands of social media posts in 2021 found that about 200 military
personnel regularly posted messages or videos alleging fraud at the election and
denouncing anti-coup protesters as traitors
- Tatmadaw has killed more than 1,000 civilians and jailed thousands since the coup,
according to the United Nations
- Facebook says it has taken down hundreds of accounts and pages linked to Myanmar
army personnel since 2018

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/teen-admits-to-lying-on-social-media-
about-contracting-covid-19-being-in-icu

- A teenage boy's lies about contracting Covid-19 and being hospitalised in an intensive
care unit (ICU) led to a friend, who was serving national service (NS) at the time, being
sent home from Pulau Tekong to isolate
- Siew Hanlong, 19, pleaded guilty to two counts of communicating a false message under
the Miscellaneous Offences
- For communicating a false message, Siew could be fined up to $10,000 and jailed for up
to three years

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/us-rights-groups-condemn-jailing-of-teenager-in-
cambodia-over-social-media-posts

- United States and human rights groups on Monday (Nov 1) condemned the conviction of
a Cambodian teenager who was sentenced to eight months in prison over messages he
shared on Facebook and Telegram insulting ruling party officials
- broad crackdown in Cambodia on the opposition, civil society and the media that began
in the run-up to a 2018 election
- jailing the teenage son of a opposition figure demonstrate respect for human rights
- Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch claimed that “conviction against 16-year-
old is outrageous and unacceptable on so many levels and signifies a new low in Prime
Minister Hun Sen's witch hunt against his political opponents”
Worker’s Party MP lying about rape event in parliament

- Ms Raeesah had admitted on Monday to lying about a purported incident where she
claimed the police mishandled a rape victim's complaint
- Previously, Ms Raeesah had to apologise for two Facebook posts she made alleging
that the police discriminated against minorities

New grouping bringing together Middle east countries and USA, “the other quad”

- https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/india-moves-to-raise-profile-in-the-
middle-east-with-the-other-quad-analysts
- new grouping bringing together India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the
United States
- Analysts said India, which has traditionally taken the middle ground, was now pushing
the envelope on the global stage
- Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, saw Israel signing peace treaties with the UAE
followed by Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
- India still has ties with Iran, causing tensions between India, UAE and Israel

Censorship in Singapore, political book banned from distribution

- new book “red lines” on political cartoons will not be allowed to be sold or distributed
- contains objectionable content that denigrates religions
- book examines political cartoons from all over the world and explains the various
motivations and methods of cartoon censorship
- Publishers to work with IMDA to see what images might be problematic and how these
could be redacted for a version of the book for Singapore
- Authorities have said that in the last five years, it has classified six other publications to
be objectionable for denigrating various religious communities

Greta Thunberg calls the COP26 a failure

- Greta Thunberg on Friday branded the UN climate summit in Glasgow a "failure"

- announcements by some countries to phase out coal use and to end foreign fossil fuel
funding, but there were few details that were actually mentioned

Singapore is a case study for racial harmony where muslims are a minority

- Singapore can be a case study for racial and religious harmony given that it is one of the
world's most religiously diverse societies - Minister in charge of Muslim affairs
- In Singapore, Muslims make up about 15.6 per cent of the population
- Emerging uncertainties and challenges of the contemporary world usually impact these
Muslim communities first
- Singapore's Constitution forms the foundation for its social compact
 - 3 Pillars: justice and equality, self-reliance, cohesive and harmonious society
- engender trust between majority and minority communities by building respect, care and
concern for fellow citizens
- Under the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, those who cause ill-will between
different religious groups can be issued with a restraining order
- Singapore experienced its first case of right-wing extremism, when a 16-year-old
Singaporean boy was detained last December after planning to attack Muslims in
mosques. He was inspired by terrorist attacks overseas that he had observed online.

Justin Lee suicides after drug trafficking allegations

- His mother posted a letter addressed to Minister for Law and Home Affairs K.
Shanmugam on her Instagram page
- While she said she does not deny that Justin committed an offence, she said the way he
was dealt with needed to change
- Mr Shanmugam contacted Ms Ow the same day she sent her letter to assure her

Halimah Yacob comments after RVHS murder incident

- Halimah Yacob noted that the impact of mental illness when the onset is at a very young
age is usually a lot more severe
- there are school counsellors but they may not be well trained on issues affecting mental
health
- also pointed out that society imposes high expectations on the young, particularly on
those who seem to be doing well academically
COP26

- 130 presidents and prime ministers posing for a group photo. Fewer than 10 were
women
- median age was older than 60
- protests of thousands on the streets of Glasgow. A march Friday was led by young
climate activists, some barely old enough to vote in their countries
- Sydney's first legal protest after a months-long COVID-19 lockdown saw about 1,000
people march in support of global action day for climate justice, a worldwide movement
mobilised during the COP26 meeting.

Animation/working hours

- Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train saved the Japanese box office in 2020,
grossing over $100 million in Japan within 10 days and becoming the fastest film to
reach this milestone
- anime is scrutinised for the treatment of animators - lowly-paid, working long hours, burn
out easily

Environment/heritage

- Toba Caldera natural lake, North Sumatra: declared a global geopark (UNESCO, 2020),
which is an affirmation that should encourage economic growth and sustainable
development
- climate-changing supervolcanic eruption 73000 years ago, and the surrounding is home
to the indigenous Batak people

Australian preservation of heritage

- mining giant Rio Tinto damaged 46000 y.o. prehistoric Aboriginal rock shelters while
expanding an iron ore mine despite objections by traditional landowners

Singapore workplace culture

- 31st out of 40 cities in work-life balance

- workplace happiness score is 68 (2020), up from 59 (2014), measured by basic work
needs, sense of belonging, engagement, well-being; boomers are the happiest

Reforestation in Singapore

- 12.5 ha coastal forest in Labrador, along the Greater Southern Waterfront, will be
restored starting 2022
- A new coastal trail will also be introduced, education about the environment around the
park
- supported by Keppel Corporation through a $1 million donation
Investment into digitalisation in Singapore

- research initiatives worth $174 million over five years that could move Singapore’s
digitalisation drive up another gear
- United States tech firm Cisco and the National University of Singapore (NUS) of over
100 million
- ST Engineering with four partners over 50 million
- boost research into artificial intelligence (AI), healthcare, cyber security, urban
infrastructure and workplace productivity.
- Singapore's $25 billion Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan

Freedom of press

- India, Nepal: authorities arrested/charged dozens of individuals, many of them

journalists, for allegedly spreading "misinformation" or "fake news" about the pandemic
- Sri Lanka: police warned that legal action would be taken against people publishing
posts on social media that were critical of the government's pandemic response
- Singapore's Public Order Act: bans public assemblies and processions, it is illegal to
hold cause-related events without a license from authorities